i The impact of commercialisation of the media on the content of the conglomerate-owned community newspapers in South Africa: A study of four community newspapers from the Caxton CTP Publishers stable. Susan W. Mwangi A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Journalism and Media Studies. Johannesburg, 2007 ii Abstract This dissertation draws on empirical research in the print media to consider the impact of commercialisation on the content ferried in community newspapers. The central argument of market driven theories (Badalsty, 1992; Howley, 2005; Bagdikian, 2004) is that the negative effects of commercial interests and dependency on advertisers can be felt on the news pages. In light of what Gillmor (2004:4) refers to as ?corporatisation of journalism? this research explores the various issues and themes discussed in four Johannesburg-based community newspapers, namely, Alex News, Diepkloof Urban News, Rosebank-Killarney Gazette and Fourways Review. The research employs both Qualitative and Quantitative Content Analysis research methods to determine the nature of the publications? content. The findings of this research indicate that at least two thirds of the content ferried in conglomerate-owned community newspapers has a market-driven slant ? meaning that they do not carry high proportions of substantive content. Howley (2005:140) argues that news has become a commercial product that is ?shaped, packaged and marketed with a constant eye for profits. Newspapers are businesses dedicated to presenting information within the parameters of profitability?. The desire to please advertisers means that newspapers shun controversial issues, politics and debates for fear of alienating readers. He adds that this aversion is a kind of self-censorship that guarantees that political ideas of public interest do not reach the community and the net result of commercialisation make newspapers content banal. A newspaper operating in a market-driven environment does not, in the words of McManus? (1994:218), serve the primary purpose of news, which is to explain how the environment is working so that the citizens can make good decisions, particularly civic decisions. The findings of this research have shown that in their current state, conglomerate-owned community newspapers fall short of this journalistic ideal. iii Declaration I declare that this research is my own unaided work. It is submitted for the degree of Masters of Arts (course work) in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any other degree or examination in any other university. ????????????? (Name of candidate) ............day of ????? 2007 iv Acknowledgement ? Mwathani arogocwo! I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Nixon Kariithi, for his guidance and insightful discussions throughout the course of this project. It is with boundless gratitude that I acknowledge my family?s support ? to mum, dad, Geci, Kirika, Dougy and Nimu, who kept the lines of communication and support open, asanteni sana. To my friend Oluwatoyin, esuen ganni. To the staff at Caxton, thank you for allowing me access to your archives, to newspapers and to much needed information. v Content Page Title page i Abstract ii Declaration iii Acknowledgements iv Content page v List of Tables vii Appendices viii Chapter 1: Aim and Rationale 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Aim 1 1.3 Rationale 2 Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework and Literature Review 2.1 Theoretical Framework 4 2.2 Community and community newspapers 10 2.3 Trends in conglomerate-owned community newspaper ownership in South Africa 13 2.4 Advertising in South Africa?s Community newspapers 17 2.5 Research Questions 19 Chapter 3 Methodology 3.1 Research Methods 20 3.2 Sampling 21 3.2 Data Collection and Analysis 23 3.3 Limitations of the study 27 Chapter 4 Research Findings and Discussion 4.1 Quantitative Content Analysis of the community newspapers 30 4.1.1 Analysis of newspaper content 30 4.1.2 Analysis of the newshole 33 4.1.3 Analysis of the pictorial elements in the newspapers 34 4.1.4 Analysis of newspaper content 35 4.1.4.1 Analysis of stand-alone pictures, comic strip 35 4.1.4.2 Analysis of vox-pop 37 4.1.4.3 Analysis of sources of news articles 38 4.1.4.4 Analysis of news articles related to police matters 39 4.1.5 Themes/news categories discussed by journalists 39 4.1.6 Analysis of news articles from unspecified sources 44 4.1.7 Analysis of community participation in the newspapers 47 4.1.8 News articles from news agencies and the internet 52 4.1.9 Analysis of community problems 53 4.1.10 Analysis of political and governance issues 55 vi 4.1.11 Analysis of major newspaper advertisers 59 4.1.12 Analysis of the themes in the news articles from all sources 62 4.1.13 A summary of the thematic content in the news articles 63 4.2 Quantitative Content Analysis 4.2.1 Advertiser related stories 66 4.2.2 Homogenisation of content 68 4.2.3 Maintaining journalism standards 71 4.3 Conclusion 72 Chapter 5 Conclusion 5.1 Conclusion 75 5.2 Implication and significance of findings 75 5.3 Suggestions for further research 79 Bibliography 96 vii List of Tables: Page Table 2.4.1: Above the line Ad-spend in the South African media 18 Table 3.1.1: McManus? categories used to rate the ?nutrition? of newspapers 28 Table 3.1.2: Operationalised categories used to rate ?nutrition? of newspapers 29 Table 4.1.1: Summary (%) of the newspaper content 30 Table 4.1.2: Content Analysis (%) of the Newshole 33 Table 4.1.3: Page one content 34 Table 4.1.4: Distribution (%) of the Newspaper Content 35 Table 4.1.5: Distribution (%) of news articles the themes discussed by journalists 41 Table 4.1.6: Distribution (%)of the themes from unspecified sources 44 Table 4.1.7: Distribution (%) of the news articles from newspaper readers 48 Table 4.1.8: Content from internet sources in Diepkloof Urban News 52 Table 4.1.9: Summary (%) of the Community Problems 53 Table 4.1.10: Distribution (%) of the Political and Governance issues 56 Table 4.1.11: Distribution (%) of the major Advertisers 60 Table 4.1.12: Summary of the themes in news articles from all sources 63 Table 4.1.13: Summary (%) of the thematic content of news articles 64 viii Appendices: Page Appendix A ? Newspaper editions that were analysed in the research 81 Appendix B ? Operationalised coding sheet to analyse newspaper content 82 Appendix C ? Table & Graph 4.1.1A: Newspaper content 83 Appendix D ? Table & Graph 4.1.2A: Details of newshole 84 Appendix E ? Table & Graph 4.1.3A: Page-one content 85 Appendix F ? Table & Graph 4.1.4A: Newspaper content 86 Appendix G ? Table & Graph 4.1.5A: News articles from journalists 87 Appendix H ? Table & Graph 4.1.6A: News articles from unspecified sources 88 Appendix I ? Table & Graph 4.1.7A: Community letters 89 Appendix J ? Table & Graph 4.1.8A: News from agencies and the internet 90 Appendix K ? Table & Graph 4.1.9A: Community problems 91 Appendix L ? Table & Graph 4.1.10A: News articles on Politics and Government 92 Appendix M ? Table & Graph 4.1.11A: Articles from various news sources 93 Appendix N ? Table & Graph 4.1.12A: Market- vs Journalism-driven news 94 Appendix O ? Table & Graph 4.1.13A: Summary of Market- vs Journalism-driven news 95